Conophytum herreanthus (4 pics)

Sorry for not posting much, I've been a little preoccupied lately by an acquisition of a rare mesemb of a feline variety :)

The weather is terrible here. It's like we've had fall weather since October, all darkness and rain. These days the sun comes out in the mornings (huge improvement) followed by heavy thunderstorms in the afternoons. How my plants are not cucumbers yet is a mystery. All my watering schedule is confused. I've watered almost all of the lithops by now but only once or twice to let them know they can start growing but also to prevent them from stretching towards the rare sunlight. If that makes any sense. I think it does not. Better dry than growing under these circumstances. I just feel bad seeing them shrivel. 

You know which plants don't care about all of that? Winter growers, especially conophytums. They are in sheaths and asleep. Who new German weather would support their resting schedule so well? You know who else doesn't care? The strange plant below. It's not sheathed as others but it's clearly resting.

I got it in February under the name of Herreanthus meyeri (H-637, Umdaus) and it's still listed as such at Mesa Garden. But it's actually a Conophytum herreanthus. Hard to believe this giant is a conophytum. Apparently Schwantes has considered it a separate genus but has not taken into account the behavior of seedlings and the flower structure. Also, back then the non-sheathing conophytums (like C. khamiesbergense) have not been well described, it seems. And so, as a revision, this plant is now a conophytum. Crazy. I haven't watered it since February and it doesn't show any signs of distress. The only thing it did is drying of the big floppy old leaves. I guess, it best be watered around end of august, with the other conos. 

Hope that proper summer will reach us soon.